One of the more unexpected outcomes of Sedwick's suicide was the arrest of two students in connection with her death. (Though not wholly without precedent...) According to Sheriff Grady Judd, the two suspects posted messages both before and after Sedwick's death that indicated they were involved in her bullying. The older of the two suspects (one was 14 and the other 12) posted the following on Facebook after Sedwick took her own life.

Sheriff Judd took it upon himself to have these two arrested, setting a somewhat dangerous precedent in his county that people could be held criminally responsible for someone else's voluntary action. He seemed to approach this as a crusade against the cruelty of youth, one in which laws and common sense could be overturned in order to right wrongs.

Judd, as it turns out, has had plenty of crusades in his past. One of his more notable efforts involved sending deputies 1,900 miles away to arrest a suspected pedophile. Judd's moral compass, however, skews a bit further north than most, which makes his stance on issues like pornography and bullying somewhat suspect.

In 2007, commenting on a case in which he had arrested a man who was running a porn site out of his home in Polk, [Judd] said: "No normal person could even imagine what's depicted in those videos and in those photographs." A sexual behavior expert from the University of Central Florida said in a motion in the man's court file that it was run-of-the-mill erotica available anywhere on the Internet to anyone.

Judd also seldom performs his work without an audience. One colleague of his memorably stated that the most dangerous place to be is "between Judd and a camera." This calls into question Judd's judgement as well, which seems to be at least as populist-oriented as it is crime-oriented.

Not long after Judd's high-profile arrest of two students, the charges were dropped by the State District Attorney. Judd applied spin to his prized arrests being cut loose, claiming all he wanted to do was, "bring this conduct to the proper authorities." Considering Judd is one of the "proper authorities," one wonders what endgame he envisioned. It certainly couldn't have been his righteous crusade being found legally untenable by the state.

Another crusader, this time a lawyer, decided Sedwick's death called for a new law -- one that targeted parents for not policing their children's online behavior. According to his extrapolations, the parents should be held responsible for an unrelated person's suicide, something even further removed than Judd's assertion that the two students should be held criminally responsible for Sedwick's suicide. (Of course, Judd also thought the parents should be punished somehow, and even hauled in one of the parents for unrelated abuse/neglect charges.)

More than a year before her death, Sedwick had been battling depression resulting from her deteriorating relationship with her father, according to intake reports from a counselor that are included in the police file. She also complained about fights between her mother and stepfather. The file, which has been reviewed by CNN, says she cut herself on a few occasions, had suicidal ideations and had been committed for psychiatric evaluation for two days.

In November 2012, she accused her mother of abusing her and then took back the accusation, saying she was pushed to lie by classmates who forced her off campus and told her they wouldn't let her return home unless she lied to an officer. Her mother denied abusing Sedwick but said she slapped the girl's face once during an argument about Sedwick being too young to date.

Sometime before her death, Sedwick's relationship with an online boyfriend came to an end, according to the documents. Family conflict, in addition to bullying from girls at school, weighed on her.

What wasn't found in the files, however, was much evidence that Sedwick was unrelentingly bullied.

"I don't think I was prepared for the abysmal lack ... of any evidence of bullying for the seven months prior to her suicide," said Nancy Willard, director of Embrace Civility in the Digital Age, a group that focuses on combating cyberbullying, and author of a handful of books including "Positive Relations @ School (& Elsewhere)."

Willard says this case is like many others: parents and authorities leaping to the wrong conclusions in the aftermath of a tragedy. The haste to pin a suicide on bullying buried the rest of Sedwick's background. This is somewhat understandable, given the circumstances. In the wake of a tragedy, no one wants to point the finger at the parents as possibly being partially responsible for their own child's death.

But if these teens were somehow responsible for Sedwick's suicide, then why wouldn't anyone go after the other factors, all of which were included in the police file? Why didn't someone haul in the ex-boyfriend? Surely he's as "culpable" as anyone.

No one would think to haul in anyone else (parents, ex-boyfriend) who contributed to Sedwick's unhappiness, but it was considered perfectly OK to haul in two teens and attempt to press criminal charges, even when faced with a dearth of evidence. But that's exactly how ridiculous Judd's efforts were.

Now that Judd has apparently seen this lack of evidence for the first time, he's backpedaling quickly.

"We never said that bullying was the only reason Rebecca committed suicide," Judd told The Associated Press. "But what the bullies did is that they continued to stack bricks on an already overloaded wagon till finally, it broke."

But these "bricks" could have been "stacked" in any order. Judd simply made the most popular move, one that brought in the most unsympathetic suspects. And then he rode his hobby horse hard, until it collapsed under the weight of his misguided convictions.

But there are still those who want to make someone pay. The lawyer for Sedwick's mother is planning to sue the school district as well as at least one of the two girls Judd arrested. He claims to have evidence that the teens bullied Sedwick and that the school not only knew, but did nothing to stop it.

There is evidence that indicates Sedwick was bullied in the months leading up to her death, but that evidence is scattershot at best. The lack of evidence doesn't necessarily mean it didn't happen, but it does suggest that, coupled with other information coming to light, it was hardly the only factor in Sedwick's decision to end her life.

The point here isn't to excuse the bullies for their actions. The point is that far too often the instantaneous reaction to tragedies is misguided and myopic, focusing on the least sympathetic protagonists and ignoring anything else that doesn't fit the narrative that's easiest to accept. The larger problem is that law enforcement and legislators are especially prone to act on this limited (or willfully ignored) information, and that results in all sorts of questionable actions and terrible laws -- things that negatively affect the general public.

Reader Comments

This article is personally offensive to me. While the sheriff went overboard, I cannot say that he was wrong. High School bullies are a problem that law enforcement and school administration seem intent on treating the bully like they were the victim. If the police and school administrators would start adopting a zero tolerance policy and impose such penalties such as sending the bully to anger management therapy/classes, send the parents to court ordered psychiatric help and other court ordered remedies, then maybe the problem regarding school bullying could be eliminated.

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What this really speaks to is; what pussies today's kids are. Not so long ago, people just made it through and got their satisfaction having the bully mow their lawn, and wash their car, when real life began after high school. No one, in my entire scholastic experience, took their own life or came in and shot the place up. It sucked to be bullied, but it was hardly the end of the world. I was bullied plenty, mentally and physically, & learned to toughen up and pick my battles.

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"While the sheriff went overboard, I cannot say that he was wrong."

If he went overboard, then he was wrong. Regardless of that, the sheriff was clearly just plain wrong. There is no evidence of criminal conduct on the part of these kids, so no charges should have been pressed.

When it comes to the larger issue of bullying, I would argue that this is an issue that (generally_ shouldn't involve law enforcement at all. It should be handled by the school and parents. The main problem is that schools and parents are often terrible at handling the issue -- that's what needs to be fixed. Bringing cops into the mix fixes nothing at all. It only makes the whole situation even worse.

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Perhaps the police should not get involved, but in that case they also shouldn't get involved when the bullied kid ends up beating the shit out of the bullies, with or without the aid of the kinds of weapons these often weak kids would require for such a purpose.

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I agree. If there's a fight, then a grownup needs to break it up. I could see an extreme circumstance where the police would be useful to do that (maybe everyone has guns?), but outside of that, the cops aren't needed for that sort of thing.

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I'd only call the cops for criminal activity, period. That means actual assault leaving bruises or damage, theft of property (money or goods), blackmail, stalking (including cyberstalking - following you everywhere you go online to make your life a misery or force you off the internet to escape it), or sexual abuse.

Calling your kid names and chucking his schoolbag in the trash (which happened to me) is not criminal activity. It's annoying, that's all.

If guns or other weapons are involved, cops should definitely be called in, but only when actual guns, not bitten pop tarts, are brandished or used.

We need to deal with this stuff in a measured, balanced way. And have bullying prevention classes for teachers and students alike. Beating up the bully later on is a fantasy. In real life, it results in criminal charges and lawsuits. How do you prove bullying years after the event?

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School bullying is a problem. But in this case, it wasn't a problem that obviously contributed to Sedwick's suicide. If the police are going to take action based on a little girl's suicide, I would personally like them to take action to prevent similar suicides. Otherwise, one gets the distinct impression that the police are exploiting the girl's pain and death in order to achieve their own short-term political goals. That's offensive too.

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"If the police and school administrators would start adopting a zero tolerance policy..."

Any use of the words "zero tolerance" should set off alarm bells. These policies always claim to have the best intentions, but produce horrific results when rigidly obeying poorly considered policies becomes more important than applying common sense and appropriate responses.

And it says a lot about you that you're offended by the idea that other important and relevant aspects of this girls life should be ignored while hyper-focusing on your pet concern. God help us if you're ever responsible for enforcing one of your suggested zero-tolerance policies.

Sheriff Judd took it upon himself to have these two arrested, setting a somewhat dangerous precedent in his county that people could be held criminally responsible for someone else's voluntary action.

Nobody should ever be arrested for somebody else's decision to commit suicide, but a kid who says things like "I bullied Rebecca nd she killed her self but IDGAF" should bear some kind of responsibility for intentional infliction of mental anguish. It doesn't have to be jail time; Just something to help the kid develop a little bit of empathy.

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i am all for public shaming as a solution. make them carry signs in public that outline their bad deeds and encourage others to laugh at THEM for a change. i say fight fire with fire.bully beats up a kid: public caning until the victim is satisfied that bully learned their lesson. seems harsh but i think it would be effective (and probably the only thing that would be anymore)

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That depends on the kind of bullying taking place, doesn't it? If the bullying takes the form of assault and battery, for instance, jail time would be very much appropriate. The fact that a bully shows no remorse (as evidenced by statements similar to those made by the bully in this case) would then be considered an aggravating factor.

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Assault and battery isn't "bullying", it's assault and battery. It can be addressed as that. Aside from that, though, what is appropriate depends on a whole lot of things (such as the age or mental state of the bully, for instance). That's why my comment was restricted to dealing with mentally ill minors.

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Does that mean everybody whoever made a stupid comment should bear responsibility for inflicting mental pain if the target of that comment was suffering mental pain from a different cause; like family troubles?

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"says things like "I bullied Rebecca nd she killed her self but IDGAF""

Its a good thing we live in the US, Where the first amendment protects us from knee jerk reactions like you advocate. If you aren't going to protects extremely offensive speech, just pack it all up now and strike the whole 1st amendment.

If the police and school administrators would start adopting a zero tolerance policy and impose such penalties such as sending the bully to anger management therapy/classes, send the parents to court ordered psychiatric help and other court ordered remedies, then maybe the problem regarding school bullying could be eliminated

they already do that. i went through pretty much the same thing rebecca did minus the home problems and relationship troubles. those zero tolerance policies? utter crap man. when i finally took a swing at one of the guys that was doing terrible things to me we both got sent to the principle. he was threatened with suspension *not that he cared because he had been suspended multiple times and expelled from two other schools* and so was i. funny they did not seem to have a problem with until i did something about it other then telling them and watching it fall on deaf ears.

other then that though? those two $$$$s that did this to her can rot in juvie for all i care.

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I don't follow this. Perhaps there are a couple of commenters here who are the exception, but the majority of comment about Swartz that I've read don't contradict that quote at all.

It is acknowledged that in the end, Swartz' decision was his own. Only a tiny minority has said that the feds should be charged with murder or otherwise held criminally responsible for his suicide.

What has been said is that the feds abused their power to make an example of him, and that the effort contributed heavily toward his suicide, and that they should be held responsible for that abuse of power even if he had not killed himself.

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That seems reasonable to me. However, it's hard to think straight and make rational decisions when you're under stress. Extreme stress can warp your worldview to the point where you see only one way out. I couldn't blame anyone for committing suicide because I believe people don't do it to be jerks. They do it to escape. I also believe that, had Aaron Swartz had another escape route, he'd have taken it at once.

I've seen, time and time again, where intervention has worked by helping to lift the stress from the victim by either dealing with bullies (http://www.dailydot.com/news/anonymous-kylie-suicide-trolls-bully/) or providing other options, e.g. debt counseling.

Therefore, I don't believe it's an entirely voluntary act, but a choice made in desperation by people who believe there are no other options.

It's really not as simple as "a voluntary act, the end."

That Rebecca Sedwick had personal and mental health issues is beyond dispute but I think it's reasonable to believe that kind words and a bit of encouragement might have saved her. It seems very harsh to condemn a 12-year-old girl for taking the only escape route (from everything) she could think of.

That said, a slap on the wrists for the bullies and some kind of compulsory empathy training course would have been in order. We need to teach our kids to be kind, and to watch out for the weak, not to stomp on them just because they can.

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The tone here seems defensive, and it's likely that reb didn't know what would happen next. Perhaps she was surprised when it did. Perhaps people were calling her on the bullying. I doubt reb actively sought to drive the kid to off herself.

"The point is that far too often the instantaneous reaction to tragedies is misguided and myopic, focusing on the least sympathetic protagonists and ignoring anything else that doesn't fit the narrative that's easiest to accept. The larger problem is that law enforcement and legislators are especially prone to act on this limited (or willfully ignored) information, and that results in all sorts of questionable actions and terrible laws -- things that negatively affect the general public. "

The girl who made that statement may be a horrible human being, but I don't think one heartless text is the way we can determine that.

14 year olds say things they don't mean all the time. They wish people dead a lot too--mostly their parents. Thank god I came of age before the time when my every horrid thought could be electronically preserved in perpetuity.

rebecca

her biological father and I have started a group if her case file did not have bowling and her issue then if there was no issue then there is possibly no suicide and this needs to be reopened as a homicide case please take a look at our group and help us with our cause she deserves jesús we don't believe she committed suicide and there are many facts to prove that.

The rise in bullying is a consequence of societies attitudes

We are reaping what we have sown. There has always been and there will continue to be bullying within our society. But it can be kept to a minimum. As a society, we no longer allow corporal punishment of any kind. So we teach that there are no consequences for our actions. Hence, those who can lord it over others do so in more and more ways and in more and more places.

So is it any wonder that our young are taking on these same attitudes.

Our governments, our police forces, etc, have gone the way of being bullies. This simply reinforces the attitude that if they can do it, anyone can do it.

Simplistic, I know, but I also know that when I was at school, anyone getting caught bullying another copped it with physical consequences. Tended to mitigate the more extreme problems.

Today's attitude is that we have our "rights" but "responsibilities" are for losers. We, as a society, have lost our perspective on what is appropriate. We no longer concern ourselves with courtesy, helpfulness, kindness, discipline, responsibility, or any of the niceties that oil the relationships in society.

This is particularly demonstrated by our politicians who have no problems abusing each other let alone normal citizens and yet demand respect for their positions, beliefs, policies, etc.

Calling a spade a spade is not a problem, it's how you do it that matters.

Re: The rise in bullying is a consequence of societies attitudes

I agree with your general sentiment, but not so much with the corporal punishment bit. If corporal punishment were enforced today as a consequence of undesirable behavior, including bullying, dollars to donuts the victim gets his ass whipped too. Because the standard procedure and attitude is "two hands to clap". And guess what happens to the victim after the punishment gets carried out?

That said, I concur about the "responsibility" bit. The problem is that we've arbitrarily decided that some people are not only entitled to be the most abrasive, unconstructive assholes, but also get away with it. Bullies either buddy up with the teachers who casually dismiss things as "kids will be kids", or the faculty's attitude is so toxic they really couldn't care who suffered in the schoolyard survival of the fittest.

Unfortunately, calling out on this behavior relies on having some degree of higher authority you can trust - perpetuating the problem of bullies.

I dunno... in the fourth grade, I used to get put in a headlock and pummeled and dragged around the school athletic field, had kickballs hurled at my face, rocks thrown, etc. I left that field every day beaten and dirty. And all the while this battery was happening, multiple teachers looked on and did absolutely nothing. Nothing. No reports, no complaints, not even a "hey you kids cut it out" and course no punishment dealt out to the other kids. Eventually they put me in a class for learning disabled kids, in retrospect mainly to get rid of me.

Looking back on it, I still don't see where all the hate was coming from. But the school did nothing to stop it, made no reports, etc. In their official eyes, none of it ever happened.

Had I known how, I would have killed myself back then. I went through a lot of misery in that place and it still affects my life today because it totally derailed my academic future and sent me onto a path of skipping school entirely after grade 6. Nope. Never got caught. Skipped high school, college, all of it. This means I have no career and nothing to contribute to starting a family I couldn't support anyway.

So when I look at why I have failed to achieve, of course I blame myself but I also have to look at where it started going so wrong, where a smart kid crashed into a brick wall. And that was being bullied like a dog in 4th grade. When nobody did a damn thing to stop it.

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@ AC720, I really, truly sympathize with your plight back then, but the bullying at school ended years ago.

Your failure to achieve so far does not mean you never can achieve. You have a choice; let bad experiences hold you back or make the most of what you have now and the opportunities that exist.

What are your interests? What would you like to do? Suppose you want to be a computer programmer. Okay, what is required to get into that job and where can you get the training, etc.? Now go for it. Your current circumstances are a puzzle, a problem you can solve if you put the work into it and don't give up. If you can't get in the door, try the windows. If you can't get in via the windows, try the chimney. But don't give up.

A long-term debilitating illness kept me out of the job market for years. When I returned I had no experience and my training was way out of date. I went on a government-sponsored training course and volunteered at a local charity, building my skillset and gaining experience. Meanwhile, I joined online jobs boards and signed up with agencies. My round-the-clock availability and can-do, will-do attitude got me paid work — and more experience in a variety of industries. Now I have a well-paid full-time permanent job, which I got as a result of a temp-to-perm placement from an agency.

I'm not exactly living the dream but I can pay the bills. What could you achieve if you really, truly put your mind to it?

You need to accept the things you cannot change, change the things you can, and learn the wisdom to know the difference. Be patient with yourself, this takes time. I should know. Good luck.

HELLO

Its a good thing we live in the US, Where the first amendment protects us from knee jerk reactions like you advocate. If you aren't going to protects extremely offensive speech, just pack it all up now and strike the whole 1st amendment.

HELLO

I'd only call the cops for criminal activity, period. That means actual assault leaving bruises or damage, theft of property (money or goods), blackmail, stalking (including cyberstalking - following you everywhere you go online to make your life a misery or force you off the internet to escape it), or sexual abuse.

Calling your kid names and chucking his schoolbag in the trash (which happened to me) is not criminal activity. It's annoying, that's all.

If guns or other weapons are involved, cops should definitely be called in, but only when actual guns, not bitten pop tarts, are brandished or used.

We need to deal with this stuff in a measured, balanced way. And have bullying prevention classes for teachers and students alike. Beating up the bully later on is a fantasy. In real life, it results in criminal charges and lawsuits. How do you prove bullying years after the event?

When I was young, I suffered from bullying. I lost my self-esteem disabling me to perform well at school. This is something I don't want my children to suffer. I am now a father of two daughter. Both on high school. I am worried that they might encounter what I experienced before. Good thing I have downloaded an application on our phones. Once you pressed the panic button, it will automatically be connected to a response center that will answer and give immediate help possible 24/7. Me, along with my wife and close friends as my children's safety network, will receive a text message about the incident and their location making us a possible responder too. This app certainly helps me since me and my wife are slightly busy with work. Me and my wife worry less now. This can lessen yours too. Just visit their site to know more about this amazing app: http://safekidzone.com/#!/page_home

Bullying has been a part of everyone's culture and a habit for some. This can happen anywhere. May it be at school, family, workplace, neighborhood and in the internet. Right now there is no way to eradicate this sort. This worries me all the time as a father of two children. Both in high school. I can't be with them every single time. Me and my wife go to work everyday. It's hard to be certain about their whereabouts and situation. Good thing I discovered this amazing application installed on my children's phones. It has a panic button that my children will press in case of an emergency. As simple as that it will automatically be connected to a 24/7 Response center and if needed, your call can be escalated to the nearest 911 Station. Me, along with my wife and close friends as my children's safety network, will be notified also through text message or a conference call. I worry less. This can help you too. Just visit their site to know more about this:http://safekidzone.com/#!/page_home

She was hacked

Rebecca Sedwicks kick account was hacked 12 weeks before she died. It's posted on her Instagram acct _whuuuuut_ See for urselves she took a picture of the log in screen coincidently it's the only account that her mother never got the password to get into after her death it's exactly the way it was when she died it's the only account that is exactly the way it was when she died